Drilling mechanism



Oct. 2Q, 1931. I; B HUMPHR'EYS 1,828,605

DRILLING MECHANISM Filed July 29. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 20, 1931. BH MPH'REYS 1,828,605

DRILLINQ MECHANISM Filed-July 29. 1925. 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 5,Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 20, 1931. B. HUMPHREYS DRILLING MECHANISM Filed July 29,v 1925 Oct. 20, 1931. HUMPHREYS 1,828,605 I DRILLING MECHANISM Filed y 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 20, 1931 UNITED STATES "PATENT orr cs ma 1;. HUMPHREYB, or nmwnn, coLomo DRILLING unommsia Application filed July 29, 1925. Serial No. 46,769

This invention relates to improvements in a drillin mechanism and pertains more particular y to a combined hydraulic and spring actuated drill wherein the hydraulic or liquid 5 pressure is transmitted constantly to the drilll0 tion is to provide an improved hydraulic and spring actuated drill.

A further object of this invention is to provide a combined hydraulic and springa'ctuated drill in which the hydraulic ressure is transmitted constantly to the dril ing mechanism.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a combined hydraulic and spring operated drill in which the drill bit is raised and rotated bymeans of hydraulic pressure and is driven downwardly by means of a spring.

- A still further object of the invention is to provide a drilling mechanism of the character described having a continuous operation as the result of a continuous application of hydraulic pressure. f

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a drilling mechanism which issupported in a casing in a novel manner which allows the mechanism to be rapidly and easily lowered into and removed from the casing.

A still further object of the invention is the rovision of a drilling mechanism in whic the drill bits can be easily and quickly changed by reason of the easy removal of the drilling mechanism from the casing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a novel clutch construction whereby the drill bit of the drilling mechanism is rotated'on the upward movement of the bit only. i y

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a drilling mechanism-of the character described which is of an unusually simple constructionv and requires the minimum amount of equipment to accomplish the I desired results.

A still further object of the invention is din.

the provision of a novel valve construction and valve actuating means to bring about the reversal of the direction of movement of the drill bit by directing the flow of hydraulic pressure. A still further object of the invention is the provision of a novel form of connecting means at the u per end ofthe drilling mechanism accomplishing the lowering of the drill into its casing and the removal of the mechanism from its casing.

Other objects, novel features of construction, advantages and improved results will appear. from the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: V

Figures 1, 1 and 1 are a vertical sectional view through the drilling mechanism'and its casing, the drilling mechanism being shown at the end of its downward stroke just prior to the opening of the fluid directing valve.

I Figs. 2, 2 and 2 are a vertical sectional view of the drilling mechanism and its casing, the parts of the drilling mechanism being shown in their relative positions at the :end of the upward stroke of the drill bit,

the fluid directing valve being shown in open position. 4

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1'.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on theline 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 77 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 88 of Figyl'. f

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view showing a complete organization of the drilling mechanism.

This improved drilling mechanism is particularly adapted for-the drilling of oil wells, water wells, and gas wells but it will be readily understood that the device can'be used for practicallv any kind of drilling without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore the drilling device can be used 1% attached as at 12 to the lower end of the casing 10. The lowerend of the shoe 11 is preferably tapered as appears at 13.

The drilling mechanism is adapted to be lowered into and removed from thecasing by means of a suitable cable or hoist mechanism (not shown) which has its lower end attached to the screw-threaded portion 14 of the drill suspension head 15 Pivotally mounted as at 16 in this suspension'head are dogs 17 which are adapted to receive between them, when the suspension head is low: ered, the ball shaped end 18' of the'suspen sion bolt 19. The lower end of the bolt 19 has a universal connection such as appears at 20 with the upper end 21 of the valve housing 22.

Attention is directed to the fact that the lower end 23 of the suspension head 15 is tapered as at'24 and thereby adapted to receive the tapered upper end 25 of the valve housing end 21. Y

It will be seen that by reason of the fact that the dogs are movable the suspension head 15 can be detached from the drilling mechanism when desired. When the drilling mechanism is suspended from the suspension head 15 the ball shaped end 18 of the suspension bolt engages the shoulders.

26 of the dogs which shoulders in turnbear against the suspension head as at 27 and prevent the upper end of the bolt 19 from pulling downwardly past the dogs; When the drill is resting on the bottom of the hole being worked the lower tapered end 24 of the suspensionhead will rest on the upper tapered end 25 of the valve housing. It will be seen that sufiicient room or space is provided in the suspension head. 15 and the upper end of the valve housing 21' to permit the suspension bolt 19 to moveangularly, thus making this connection. a universal swivel joint. I

The purpose of this swivel joint atthis point is to permit the use of a one side cutting drill bit having a cutting diameter greater than the diameter. of the casing 10 which permits the casing 10'to be readily lowered and still provide room between the walls of the hole and the outer face 'of the casing.

"It will be seen that the suspension head 15 is provided with grooves 27 whilet'he valve housing is provided with grooves 28 which can be readily engaged b a properly designed fishing tool should t ese parts become broken or disen aged at any tune.

The lower en of the valve housing 22 is screw-threadedly attached as at 29 to the upper end of the cylinder 30. Thelower end of the cylinder 30 screw-threadedly carries as is carried within the casing shoe 11 at a point just below the connection of this shoe with the casing 10.

By reason of the supporting ring 35 it will 10.and can be readily removed from this casing. The supporting ring 35 is movable with the drilling mechanism by reason of the lifting ring 38 which is screw-threadedly carried by the piston rod housing 32 and is of a diameter to permit its being pulled up- .wardly through and past the supporting rmg seat 3 The valve housing 22 is internally bored to receive the valve spring 39 one end of which bears against the upper end or top 21 i of the housing while its opposite end rests upon the upper end of the valve 40. The valve housing is further counter-bored to receive the valve cylinder sleeve 41 in which the valve 40 is adapted to slide. The valve sprin 39 is carefully and accurately calibrate within the limits required to operate the valve 40, as will thereafter more fully appear. Immediately below the valve cylmder sleeve the valve housing is provided with ports 42 which are in communication with the casing 10 and the interior of the housing. The lower end of the valve housing is further counter-bored to receive the .valve seat 43. This valve seat is held in place by the ,valve seat lock nut 44.

The valve 40 is in reality'a hollowpiston, its upper end being open as at 45 and provided in its lower end with a series of openings 46 (see Fi 4) and further-prov ded with guide fins 4? adapted to slidably engage the inner faces of the valve seat lock nut and the valve seat. It will'also appear in Fig. 4 of the drawings that the guide rod 48 passes upwardly through the lower end of the valve 40. The valve 40 is preferably provided with packing 49 between itself and its cylinder sleeve 41. 4 e I The lower end of the cylinder 30 is provided with port openings 49, while positioned withinthe upper end of the cylinderBO and immediately beneath the 'lock nut 44 is the driving spring thrust bearing 50 which is be seen that the drilling mechanism can be rapidly and easily lowered into thecasing' rovided centrally with an opening 51; This aring is supported in place by the cylindrical helical driving spring 52. The thrust bearing is locked against rotation by reason of the notched lower ends 53 of the lock nut 44 which eng ge suitable openings in the upper end of the bearing.

The driving spring 52 is a cylindrical helical sprin made of oblong sectional material which is coiled in such a manner as to have the long axis of the oblong section at right angles to-the long axis of the spring. llt has been found. that with a spring of this construction the free end of the spring will rotate in an unwinding direction when the opposite end of the spring is held against rotation. The upper end of the spring in this instance is held against rotation by being suitably welded or fastened as at 54 to the thrust bearing 50. Y

The lower end of the operating spring is supported by the thrust bearing 55 which thrust bearing engages the clutch housing 56 at its upper end as at 57 in the openings 58.

The lower end of the clutch housing engages the clutch disc 59 extending lugs 60 at 61 (Fig. 6). I

The drill bit is designated at 62 and may be of any common form of one sided bit.

This bit is provided with an elongated stem 63 which extends upwardly through the piston rod housing 32 and is screwthreaded as at 64 for engagement with the internally screw-threaded lower end 65 of the guide piston 66. The upper end of the guide piston is in turn screw-threaded as at 67 for engagement with the piston nut 68. The upper end of the piston nut 68 is provided with a thrust bearing 69.' This thrust bearing 69 is in separated relation to the portion 70 of the clutch housing 56 to form a space 71 for the reception of the enlarged head 72 carried by the low-er end of the guide rod 48. The guide rod 48 is surrounded by a coil spring 73 the lower end of which is supported as at 7 4. The purpose of this s ring will be pointed out in the description of the operation of the device.

The lower end 65 of the guide piston 66 is provided with a series of holes 75 the upper ends of which are in communication with the groove 76 in the lower end of the piston 7 7 The lower end of the piston 77 is adapted to support between it and the lower end of the piston nut 68 the clutch disc 59. The guide piston 66 and the piston 77 have engagement by reason of the splines 78 on the sides of the piston which engage the openings or indentures 7 9 in the guide piston.

In the preferable construction the piston 77 is provided with packing 80 between itself and the cylinder 30 while the guide piston 66 is provided with packing 81 between itself and the inner face of the piston 77.

The lower end of the piston nut 68 is interv i (see Fig. 5) while the upper end of the piston nut .68 is provided'with' ports 85 which have communication with the upper end 86 ofthe hollow guide piston 66. The lower end of the guide piston channel has communication with the channel 87 in the drill bit stem.

The lower end of this channel 87 terminates in outlet ports 88 which in turn communicate i with the passageways or channels 89, at each side of the drill bit stem, which in turn terminate at a point adjacent the drill bit 62. The

outlet ports 88 and their acting passageways 89 are located at a point below the packing 90 which is carried by the drill bit stem for engagement with the piston rod or drill stem housing 32.

To guard against losing the drill bit should the connection become broken between the drill stem 63 and the guide piston 66, there is provided a safetysnap ring 91 which is carried by the drill bit stem and extends outwardly therefrom so that should the drill stem connection with the guide piston become broken this ring would drop down upon the offset shoulder or flange 92 provided adjacent the upper inner end of the piston rod or drill stem housing 32.

Attention is directed to the fact that the clu ch release spring 83 is assembled, or normally, under compression between the piston splines 78 and the piston nut 68. The clutch disc 59 and the piston 7 7 are held loosely upon the guide piston 66 by the guide piston nut 68. The piston 77 throughits engagement with the guide piston 66 will cause the guide piston to rotate with it but at the same time will permit the piston 7 7 to move vertically and still engage the guide piston.

The joint between the supporting ring 35 and the bevelled face 34 of the piston rod housing 32 is a ground joint and will there fore close the space between the cylinder 30 bars of spring steel coiled on edge, or with the 8 longer cross section at right angles with the ax s of the spring. A spring of this type 1s used because of the rotary motion one end will have with respect to the other end, when i said other end is fixed against rotation, whenv the spring is compressed. This rotary motionis due to the fact that the helix, or more correctly, the series of helices formed by the bar of steel, as it is compressed must follow 7 the curve of the helix formed when the ICQ spring is coiled. I The resistance of the bar of steel edgewise is too great to allow changing this curve by compression so the displacement will be found in another direction. The curve of the helix in the uncompressed spring must necessarily represent a shorter radius than it does when the sprin is compressed and the helix approaches a p ane because the curve of the bar does not change edgewise. From the foregoing it will be seen that with a spring of this character with a"certain num ber of coils in its uncompressed state, will,

the spring and through the thrust bearing 55,

clutch housing 56, clutch disc 59 to the piston 77 and the guide piston 66 to the drill bit stem and drill bit.

Having described the component parts of the drilling mechanism the operation of the device will now be taken up.

Operation The drill is lowered into the well casing until the supporting'ring rests upon the supporting rlng seat 37, thereby making a liquid-tight wall at the lower end of the device between the drilling mechanism and the casing. I High pressure fluid is supplied to the upper end of the casing 10 at the top of the well bv some suitable pumping mechanism (not shown) and the upper end of the wall casing will ofcourse be closed by some suitable cap or other means.

Referring to Figures 1, 1a and 1b of the drawings the drilling mechanism is shown with the pistonand the drill bit at the end of its downward stroke. 7

It will be apparent that the valve 40 is closed and consequently none of the high pressure fluid can pass into the valve housing ports 42. The high pressure fluid will accordingly pass on downwardly and will enter the ports 49. This high pressure fluid upon entering the ports 49 will pass under the piston 77 and into the holes in the lower end 65 of the guide piston 66 which connects with the groove 76 in the lower face of the piston 77. This high pressure fluid will lift the piston 77, the clutch disc 59, and the piston nut 68. As the piston nut 68 has connection through the guide piston 66 with the drill bit and drill stem these members will likewise be lifted. As the piston 77 rises the clutch disc 59 will engage the clutch housing 56 which will in turn lift the thrust bearing 55 and compress the operating spring 52be- I tween its lower thrust bearing and its upper thrust bearing 50.

This upward movement continues until the coil spring 73 surrounding the gulde rod 48 contacts with the base or guide fins 47 of the valve 40. When this coil spring is compressed sufliciently to overcome the tension of the valve spring 39 above the valve 40 and also the pressure on the valve 40 acting through the valve housing ports 42 the valve is lifted from its seat and is balanced except for the energy 'stored in the coil spring 73 which has carried it to its upper position, and the fluid pressure against the base of the valve which is caused by the flow of high pressure fluid through the ports 42.

As the parts areraised in the manner describedthe drill bit 62 is rotated through the action of compressing the operating or driving spring 52. The reason for the rotation of this spring under compression has previously been described. As the lower end of the spring is compressed by the upward movement of the parts it will rotate in an unwinding direction. The lower end of the spring is supported by the. thrust bearing 55 which engages the clutch housing 56 in the openings 58; clutch housing 56 is in turn engaging clutch disc 59 as at 61 and clutch disc 59 is in turn frictionally engaging the upper end of the piston 77 which is in turn engaging the guide piston 66 which has connection to the drill bit and stem. It will therefore be seen that as the lower end of the driving spring is rotated this rotary motion is transmitted, on the upward stroke, to the drill bit. The hydraulic pressure acting in the holes 75 and the groove 76 in the piston 77- have pushed this piston upwardly to cause it to frictionally engage t 1e clutch disc 59 and raise this disc against the piston nut 68 thereby holding the piston 77 clutch disc 59 and piston nut 68 firmly together'to rotate as one piece.

When the upward stroke has stored sufiicient energy in the coiled spring 73 to open the valve 40 the upward movement is arrested by reason of the fact that high pressure is now entering both the cylinder ports 49 and the valve housing ports 42.

The coiled spring 73 will hold the valve 40 in its raised or open position until the driving or operating spring 52 has forced the parts downwardly until the drill bit 62 has reached the end of its downward stroke or until the bit comes in contact with the material being drilled.

The minute the downward movement of the parts stop. either by the mechanism reaching the end of its stroke or the drill bitstriking I fluid under pressure from the pressure providing mechanism above or adjacent the well.

. of the valve, particularly the shoulder 93 of the valve head, this pressure upon the outside of the valve isacting on a greater area and exerting a downward force thereupon than the area subjected to the upward pressure and, furthermore, the pressure or head of the fluid acting to lift the valve is less than the pressure or head of the fluid exerting an upward pressure upon the valve, for the reason that what little fluid is present above the piston at the time the piston starts upward is being dischar ed through the hollow drill bit or stem as t e piston is raised.

When the spring 73 presses upon'the valve guide fins sufliciently to overcome the unbalanced pressure on the valve which is holding the valve closed, the valve will open and the high pressure fluid entering the ports42 will pass underthe valve and into the cylinder above the piston. The extension below the valve carrying the fins partly fills or obstructs the opening through the valve seat and, hence, forms a restriction through which the high pressure fluid must pass to get into the cylinder above the piston.

' When the valve isopened the passage of the high pressure fluid through the restriction causes a material acceleration of the speed of flow of said fluid and causes what mlght be termed an ejector action in respect to the chamber above the valve and this suction actionprevents the building up in the chamber above the valve of a pressure equal to that existent under and acting upwardly upon the valve head. Due to this diiferentiationof pressure at the opposite sides of the valve the valve remains in its open position until the movement of the piston is arrested.

When the piston for'any reason stops its downward movement the flow or fluid beneath the valve and through the restriction is reduced, in fact, practically stopped so that the pressure head in the restriction, in the chambers below the valve and above the valve are practically the same as exist adjacent the ports 42 and above the restriction. The pressure head acting upwardly and downwardly upon the valve are practically balanced and the spring 39 acts and closes the valve and the entire operation begins over again. I s

It will be noted that immediately above the valve seat the valve has an enlarged diameter resulting in a shoulder 93 which'permits the high pressure fluid entering the valve housing ports 42 to assist the valve spring 39 in holding the valve closed.

When the drill bit and its connecting mechanism is driven downwardly the clutch disc 59 is released so that norotation of the bit is made. The reason for the releasing of the clutch disc is that when the parts have reached the end of their upward travel the 77 is counterbalanced by the force of the liquid above the piston 77 and permits the clutch release spring to act. In pushing the piston 77 away from the clutch disc 59, thus disengaging the piston, clutch disc and piston away from the clutch disc.

nut, the piston nut, the guide piston, and the drill stem and bit are permitted to take their downward stroke without rotation. The thrust bearing 69 between the valve lifting coiled spring 73 and the piston nut 68 is of such proportion as to allow the. bit to take its downward stroke without being affected by the rotary motion of the spring 7 as it returns to its normal form before being again compressed.

During the downward stroke of the parts through the actuation of the driving spring 52 the high pressure fluid which caused the part-s to rise is forced through the ports 49, traveling upwardly in the casing 10 and entering the valve housing ports 42 and under the valve 40. This casing 10 is at this time carrying the high pressure I fluid from the source of supply as well as the exhaust fluid from beneath the piston. This fluld passes under the valve 40 down through the operating spring 52 and through the ports 84: in the clutch housing 56. Some exhaust fluid will pass through the openings 58 and through the ports 85 of the pistonnut. The main portion of the the ports 84 is passed downwardly through the port-s 15 into the open upper end 86 of the piston nut 68 and downwardly through this member and the hollow drill stem to pass outwardly through the ports and passageways 88 and 89 in the drill stem immediately above the drill bit.

It will be readily understood that the instant the valve spring 39 acts to close the valve 40, the high pressure fluid is refused Y The positions assumed by the several parts of the pumping mechanism when the pump out of the cylinder 30' fluid passing through i has reached the top of its stroke are shown in Fi res 2, 2a and 2b. 7

. f]: these figures it will be seen that the valve is in an open position, with the. valve 5 spring 39 compressed and with the coiled spring 7 3 also compressed and engaging the lower face of the valve 40. Attention is also directed to the fact that the piston 77, and clutch disc 59 have moved upwardly so that they and the lower end of the piston nut 68 are in engagement. The drill it 18 also shown in Fig. 2b in its elevated posltion.

Attention is directed to the fact that when parts are at the top of their upward stroke there is a space between the lower face of the piston 77 and the upper face of the lower portion 65 of the piston guide 66.

The whole drill mechanism, when lowered into the casing 10 by a cable or other suitable means is constructed in a manner that by a slight lateral movement the drill bit 62 will pass through the supporting ring seat 37 and the end of the casin shoe 11 although the drill is of asize to drill a hole of greater diameter than the diameter of the parts enumerated. It is possible to bring about the lateral movement and manipulation above referred to by reason of the universal joint or connection between the drill suspension head and the upper end of the valve houslng.

It will be readily apparent from Figures 1b and 2?) that the drill 62 will drill a hole of larger diameter than the casing shoe 11 and thus allow the casing to be lowered to follow the drill into the hole. At the same time in drilling a hole of greater diameter than the diameter of the casing there is provided a passage for the exhaust fluid from the out-- let ports in the drill bit stem.. This exhaust fluid will pass u wardly between the casing and the walls 0 the hole and carry with it the drillings.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the downward stroke is very rapid, by reason of being spring actuated, and that the drill bit will strike a sharp hard blow at the bottom of the hole.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1.- In a hydraulic drill, a reciprocating iston in operative engagement with a drill it, means to raise said piston, and a cylindrical helical spring compressed by the upward movement of the piston for rotating the drill and for 1 driving said piston and drill bit downwardly.

2. In a hydraulic drill, a reciprocating pis- 60 ton in operative engagement with a drill bit,

hydraulic means to raise said piston, and a cylindrical helical spring compressed by the upward movement of the piston for rotating the drill and for driving said piston and drill bit downwardly.

ton in operati ward movement of said piston and bit, and

a A drilling machine coniprising' a drill, a

. reciprocating piston for imparting movement to said drill, means providing liquid pressure, said pressure acting constantly on the piston to lift it, means to direct the pressure alternately above the piston, a resilient means comprising a cylindrical helical spring compressed by the upward movement of the piston and drill for driving the piston and drill downwardly. i

4. In a hydraulic drill, a reciprocating pis- 've engagement with a drill bit,

means to provide hydraulic pressure to raise said piston, a cylindrical helical spring compressed by the upward movement of said piston and drill bit, the drill bit rotated on its upward movement by reason of its connection with said spring, and the drill bit driven downwardly by the compression of the spring.

5. in a hydraulic drill, a reciprocating piston in operative engagement with a drill bit, hydraulic means to raise said piston, a cylindrical helical spring compressed by the upsaid spring as it is compressed causing the rotation of the bit on its upward movement and comprising the driving means for moving the bit downwardly at the end ofits upward stroke.

6. In a drilling machine, a cylinder and apipe surrounding the same, a reciprocating member within the cylinder carrying the drill, pressure communicating constantly with said pipe and acting constantly on the 1 lower side of said reciprocating member,

means for alternately directing a portion of the pressure above said reciprocating member to balance the pressures at its opposite sides, a spring for imparting rotary motion to said drill and for driving the same downwardly, and means whereby the rotary action of the spring is transmitted to the drill on its upward stroke only.

7. A drilling machine comprising a drill, a reciprocating piston imparting movement to said drill, liquid ressure acting on said piston, a cylindrical 'lielical spring composed of material of oblong shape in cross-section with the long axis of the material at right angles to the axis of the spring, means for compressing said spring upon the upward movement of the drill whereby the spring is rotated, and means for imparting the rotated movement of the spring to the drill whereby the drill is rotated during its operation.

8. In a drilling machine, a cylinder, a piston adapted for reciprocation in said cylinder and having connection with a drill, means for providing hydraulic pressure, said 2 pressure acting constantly on said piston to lift the same, means to alternately direct a portion of said pressure above the piston, resilient means compressed. by the upward movement of said piston and adapted to ropiston tate the drill, and said resilient means adapted to drive the drill downwardly when a portion of the pressure is directed above the piston. n

9. A drilling machine, comprising a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a hollow rod for said pistoncarrying a drill means for providing hydraulic pressure, said pressure acting constantly on said piston to lift the same, means operated by the move- -ment of said piston for alternately directing a portion of said pressure above the piston, resilient means compressed by the upward movement of said piston, and said resilient means adapted to rotate the drill on its up ward movement and to drive the drill downwardly when the piston has reached the end of its upward travel.

10. A drilling machine comprising a drill, a reciprocating piston inoperative engagement with the drill-bit, means to raisesaid piston, a spring for driving said piston and drill-bit downwardly, said drilling mechanism adapted to be lowered into a casing, said casing carrying internally a ring seat, a supporting ring carried by the drilling mechanism, one end of said supporting ring in engagement with the drilling mechanism and the other end of the ring adapted for engagement with the casing ring seat, whereby the drilling mechanism is removably supported in the casing and the supporting ring closes the space between the drilllng mechanism and the ring seat.

11. In a drilling mechanism, a cylinder having a piston therein, a piston rod carrying a drill-bit, liquid means for reclprocating said piston in one direction, the resilient means for reciprocating the piston in the opposite direction, the lower end of said cylinder provided with an internally extending shoulder, and a ring carried by said piston rod .and adapted to engage said cylinder shoulder in the event thatthe piston rod becomes disconnected or broken.

12. A drilling machine comprising a drill, pressure providing means for actuating the drill, a reciprocating piston and piston rod 4 for imparting movement to said drill, said pressure acting on said piston, the piston rod, a hollow rod connecting between the piston and the drill, and a portion of th e exhaust fluid adapted to pass downwardly through said hollow piston rod and upwardly out of the drill hole to wash the drillings to the surface of the hole. a

13. In a hydraulic drill, a reciprocating piston in operative engagement with a drill bit, means to raise said piston, spring means compressed by the upward. movement of said piston and bit, a clutch between,said spring means and said piston, said clutch operating only on the upward stroke of the piston, and said spring compressed and rotated on the upward movement of the bit to rotate the operate the drill, said samethrough theclutch connection and to drive the bit downwardly upon the completion of its upward movement.

14. In a'hydraulic drill, a cylinder, a piston within said cylinder and provided with a piston rod carrying a drill bit, a spring mounted above said piston, a one-way clutch mounted between said spring and piston, a valve, a high pressure conduit in constant communication with said piston, the valve in constant communication with the pressure conduit, means to open said valve upon the termination of the upward movement of the piston, said spring adapted to be compressed and rotated by the upward movement of the piston and to impart a rotary motion to the drill bit through said clutch, and the drill bit driven downwardly by said spring when the valve iso'pened and the ressureis equalized above and below the plston.

15. In a hydraulic drill, a reciprocating piston and piston rod in operative engagement with a drill-bit, means exerting a constant force to raise said piston, piston rod and drill-bit, means to intermittently counterbalance the constant force tending to raise the piston, and resilient means for driving said piston, piston rod and drill-bit In a pressure operated drill, a reciprocating piston'in operative engagement with downwardly. I

a drill-bit, means for providing pressure to operate the drill, said pressureacting constantly on the piston, and a cylindrical helical spring compressed ment of the piston for driving the piston and drill bit downwardly 17. In a drilling machine, a cylinder, a

by the upward moverotaging the drill and piston adapted'for reciprocation in said 0 linder and having connection with a drlll, means for providing pressure to operate the drill, said pressure acting constantly on said piston to lift the same, means to alternately. direct a portion of said pressure-above the piston, a cylindrical helical spring compressed by the upward movement of said piston and adapted to rotate the drill, and said spring driving the piston and drill downwardly when .a portion of the pressure is directed above the piston. u 18. In a pressure operated drill, a reciprocating piston in operative engagement with a drill-bit, means for providing pressure to pressure acting constantly on the piston,'and a cylindrical helical spring composed of material of oblong shape in cross-section with the long axis of the material at right angles to the axis of the spring compressed by the upward movement of the iston, connection between said spring and sald drill-bit, the compression of said spring rotating it and the drill-bit, and the spring adapted to drive the piston and drillbit downwardly.

19. A drilling a reciprocating piston for imparting moveuo I machine comprising a drill,

signature.

ment to said drill, liquid pressure proyiding means providing pressure acting on said pis ton, a cylindrical helical spring composed of material of oblong shape in cross-section with the long axis of the material at right angles to the axis of the spring, means for compressin said-spring upon the upward movement 0 the drill whereby the'spring' is rotate ed, a one-way clutch for imparting the rotation of the spring to the drill on its upward movement, and means to disengage said clutch from said downward.

20. A liquid actuated drill, comprising a reciprocating piston in operative engagement with a spring for driving said piston and drill-bit downwardly, said drilling mechanism adapted to be lowered into a casing, said casing provided with an internal seat, a supporting ring loosely mounted on the lower end of said drilling mechanism, said supporting ring adapted to engage the supporting seat to support the drilling mechanism in the casing, and a lifting ring mounted on the drilling mechanism below the supporting ring and adapted to engage the supporting ring when the drilling mechanism is lifted from the casing.

21. A drilling machine comprising a drill,

a reciprocating piston for imparting move" ment to said drill, liquid pressure providing means providing pressure acting on said p1ston, a cylindrical helical spring compressed and rotated by the upward movement of said piston, I a clutch connection between the spring and the drill, said clutch moved into operative connection by said pressure upon the upward movement of the piston and drill, and said spring adapted to drive the piston and drill downwardly. v

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my I-RA B. HUMPHREYS.

drill when the drill is driven drill-bit, means to raise said piston, a 

